Poker Face
by In Darkness Is Light
Summary: A game of poker reveals more than who has the best hand. KakaRin friendship ficlet. Please read and review.


_**Author's Note:** After watching a movie to do with Poker and Vegas, as well as playing Texas Hold 'Em myself, I decided to write this oneshot. Enjoy!_

Disclaimer: I do _not_ own Naruto.

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Poker Face

**I.**

In the world of shinobi and missions, it is quite difficult to find leisure time, even as a child. From the time when you are barely a teenager, to the time you die, you are expected to go out on possibly dangerous missions and increase the productivity and reputation of your village.

In order to prepare yourself for such strenuous tasks, not only your body, but also your mind requires much training. In order to ready yourself to see copious amounts of blood shed and hundreds of deaths – some which may be of your comrades – you require a certain detachedness from your profession and those with whom your are engaging in combat. You require a poker face.

Unfortunately, sometimes poker faces do not work on all those we intend to keep out.

**II.**

Rin strolled down the streets of Konoha, keeping a light pace while still managing to show her excitement and enthusiasm to the entire world. Tonight was one of her favourite nights; it would be a night where friends would get together and be merry, leaving all thoughts of dangerous missions and confusing wars behind.

Kurenai was hosting a small party of sorts tonight, and all of the shinobi closest in age-range had been invited. This meant that she had invited Asuma, Rin, Genma, Shizune, Kakashi, Gai and Anko – the two on the latter not being able to attend. Asuma had of course readily agreed to show up – everyone knew he fancied Kurenai – and Rin, Genma, and Shizune had confirmed their attendance as well. Kakashi had indeed been reluctant and insisted that he hadn't the time for such distractions, but after much persistence and pleading on Rin's behalf, he had given up and confirmed his attendance as well.

Eager to arrive at her friend's home quickly, and on time, Rin gradually picked up her pace until she was running in the direction of the small home.

Kurenai's place of residence was located in between the popular landmarks of the Yamanaka flower shop and the Dango stand. It was the only home on that street decorated in red brick, and thus, it was the easiest to spot out. Rin found it rapidly and easily, but nearly halted to a screech when she realized who was standing at the door.

Kakashi turned around, his eyes widening, as Rin braked harshly to a stop mere inches from him. She looked utterly flustered and surprised to see him there, but only made one comment: "Oh my god. You're here already? Am I _that_ late?" to which Kakashi rolled his visible eye and assured her that she was on time – he was just early.

She raised an eyebrow sceptically at his assurance, but smiled at him nevertheless as he held the door open for her to proceed inside. The moment the two entered the room; they were greeted by the shouts of their comrades and were invited to join in the merriment. As per usual, the guys sat on one couch, while the girls joined on another, until both parties stood and began to chat animatedly with one another.

Once all the pleasantries had ended, and Asuma was certain that it was time to shake things up a bit, he suggested a game of poker. Rin, having been taught the game by her father in her younger years, and never missed a chance to play, eagerly agreed on the spot. This in turn prompted her female friends to agree and in turn Kakashi – who did not trust Asuma to be by himself in a room with females – and Genma's agreements.

Once they were all seated around a circular mahogany table located in the basement area of the home, Asuma pulled out a deck of cards, grinning mischievously all the while. "Alright guys," he announced, "we're going to make things a little more interesting. Since none of us have any money to bet, and I don't believe in 'playing for fun'" – he made a face and raised his fingers to form quotation marks – "we're going to do a little version of Texas Hold 'Em strip poker."

A round of groans and a "Just looking for any reason to see a girl naked, aren't you, you pervert?" were heard, but Asuma simply put up his hands in the way one would to request silence. "Now, now, let's not be hasty. If anyone here does not feel comfortable playing under these conditions, you may excuse yourself." No one moved from his or her spot. "Good," Asuma smiled. "To be fair, you all have about three minutes to roam through the house and pile on whatever pieces of clothing you like."

As soon as he finished talking, all six of them bounded from their seats and searched through the house for articles of clothing, pulling on whatever they could before time ran out. When time ran out and they were all seated back in their respective spots, each regarded the other was amusement; the only exception was Rin who was regarded with incredulity. "Uh, Rin," Asuma questioned uneasily looking over at the girl, "did you not have enough time or something?"

The girl in question looked confusedly back at him, and then responded, "No, I had plenty of time." Her statement caused everyone's eyes to widen even more. How could this girl look like that then? That was the question in everyone's mind. Rin had only added a pair of socks, a sweater and some sunglasses in the entire three-minute span, while others like Genma had covered themselves completely, layering at least six pieces on both top and bottom. Trying to ignore the looks everyone was giving her, she stated, "Let's just start the game. Who's dealer?"

"I'll be dealer," offered Asuma and Rin nodded.

Asuma shuffled the deck of cards expertly, before turning to Kurenai who was on his left and asking for the small blind. Kurenai told him that since it would be unfair to charge any of them a piece of clothing to play, that there would be no small or big blind. Asuma, though disappointed, dealt them each their two hole cards and the game commenced. The players looked at their cards and attempted to calculate what the others could have before pre-flop betting commenced.

"Players, place your bets," Asuma encouraged. "Kakashi first."

Since there had been no small or big blinds, each player was forced to place a bet if they wanted to continue playing; otherwise, they'd have to fold. "One article of clothing."

"Genma?"

"Call."

"Rin?"

"Raise. Two articles of clothing."

"Me? Fold. How about you Kurenai?"

"Call."

"Shizune?"

"Fold."

"Kakashi?"

"Call."

"Genma?"

"Call."

"Alright, very well then. I am still dealer." Asuma put down the burn card and then proceeded with the flop. Ace of spades, three of clubs, and Queen of hearts were the three cards that revealed themselves. "Bets?"

"Fold," Genma said.

"Check," Kakashi agreed.

"Check," Rin assented.

"Check," Kurenai finalized.

Asuma nodded and then put down another burn card before turning over the turn card. It was a six of clubs. "Bets? Kurenai?"

"Raise. Four articles of clothing."

"Call," Kakashi agreed from beneath the safety of a winter parka and various sweaters. Everyone glanced over at Rin, awaiting her response. The girl only had about seven articles of clothing on her; surely she would have some common sense and not accept the raise.

However, Rin liked to surprise people. "Call."

"Your life," Asuma muttered as he put to the side the last burn card and turned over the river card, which happened to be a four of clubs. "Last bets?"

"Check," came from Kurenai.

"Check," Kakashi nodded.

"Check," Rin shrugged as she surveyed the remaining players with a smile.

Some of them found it quite unnerving how she chose to smile so innocently up at them the entire game. While most tried to maintain an air of seriousness and an emotionless expression, she always grinned the widest. For her, it was her poker face. By smiling all the time, no one would be able to read whether you were bluffing with raises or actually had a good hand. It was nearly impossible to discover the tell in someone who smiled all the time, especially when said smile was found unnerving at the poker table.

Asuma called for the showdown and the three remaining players – Kurenai, Rin and Kakashi – all showed him the best combination of cards they could make. Kurenai went first and revealed two pairs – one of aces and one of queens. The others at the table who were not playing watched in amazement as she formed the two pairs.

"Alright, so Kurenai has one pair of aces and one pair of queens. Kakashi, what do you have?"

Kakashi revealed his two hole cards and it was discovered that he had three of a kind with the sixes. That meant that Kurenai was definitely losing; the question was, was Rin going to lose with her or did she have a hand that would top them all?

When it came to her turn, she grinned at her two opponents, saying, "Read them and weep," as she placed one two of clubs and one five of clubs.

"Oh my god! I don't believe it!" Asuma commented as though he were a TV announcer. "Rin has beat them both with a straight flush! Since Kakashi and Kurenai are the losers here, they must each take off six articles of clothing!"

Rin continued grinning as Kurenai relieved herself of a jacket, a pair of socks, some sweatpants, a sweater, some earrings, and a scarf. Kakashi relieved himself of a winter parka, a strange looking orange hat, a sweater, a necklace he'd fished out of somewhere, another sweater, and a pair of snow pants. Rin burst into laughter when Kakashi shot her a glare and discarded the articles of clothing behind him.

A few more games were played, and the outcome was relatively the same. Rin won the majority of the time, except for the couple of times she had decided to fold before the flop and the one time she had misread Genma and thought he was bluffing, but he ended up winning. She had had to remove four pieces of clothing, them being the sunglasses, the sweater, the pair of socks, and the bandages wrapped around her leg. After a few more rounds, Asuma decided that they should stop playing, as he was down to his boxers and a t-shirt and had just landed himself in a bet he didn't think he could win. Once everyone got their bit of teasing in, they did indeed stop playing and spared Asuma from embarrassment.

Kurenai, Shizune, Genma and Asuma left to go back upstairs and Rin took this opportunity to challenge Kakashi to another round; this time without any betting or stripping or any variant of that. Unsure of why she would do that, Kakashi still assented to it, and so they began playing, engaging in idle conversation as they went on.

Finally, after a particularly intense game, Rin had a proposition. "Ok, last game. Let's up the ante a little, ok? How about, if I win, I get to ask you an important question and you cannot avoid answering it, and if you win…well, just choose what you want."

"Fine. I agree to your terms, but if I win, then you can never force me again to break my promise to protect you."

Her smile dissolved into a frown as she heard his proposition and recalled the time when she'd ran away from him at the Kyuubi fight and tried to take out an earth-nin all by herself, getting severely injured in the process. Nevertheless, she nodded and agreed to his terms. There was much tension and anxiety from before the flop until the showdown, but in the end, Rin had won by beating his straight with a full house.

"I won!" she cheered merrily, and a hint of smile placed itself on his face at her light-hearted giggling. She got up out of her seat, did a little victory dance, and then sat back down, solemn all of a sudden. "So now, for my question. Do you only protect me because of the promise you made to Obito or do you do it because you genuinely care about my well-being?"

Damn it. Of all the questions she could have asked, why did she pick this one? Kakashi felt entirely uneasy about answering. At first, it had only been because of the promise he made, but as time went on and he became closer to his former teammate, he didn't need the promise as a motivation anymore.

It didn't matter to him whether he had promised or not; he did it because he really wanted her to stay out of harm's way and to be healthy and alive. She meant more to him than a teammate – he had plenty of those in ANBU and he didn't really give a damn about them – but he wasn't sure exactly where on his hierarchy of important persons she rested. Not sure of his own thoughts towards her, and definitely not wanting to share those thoughts with her – for he knew all too well how teenage females misinterpreted everything – he decided to answer with the former. "I do it because of the promise," he told her unflinchingly, his eyes staring right into hers so that she would not think he was lying.

For a moment her face fell – of course it hadn't been the answer she'd wanted, nor the answer she'd expected. The two of them had become quite close ever since Obito's death, and she always assumed that she meant more to him than a promise, but now that she thought about it, her assumptions might have been wrong. Kakashi was always the one who detached himself from everyone, and being "close" to him would have meant being less than acquaintances to anyone else. Still, when all the doubt that had surfaced passed, Rin was more certain than ever that he was lying. She decided to share this notion with him.

"You're lying," she notified him, grinning.

Kakashi was completely taken aback. "No I'm not."

"Oh come on Kakashi, you so obviously are."

"I am not," he insisted. "Why do you think that?"

"I know your tell."

"My tell?"

"Yeah, everyone's got a tell. Something that gives them away."

"So then, what's mine?"

"Yours? Well, it's very difficult to notice and almost impossible to describe. You don't have just one tell, you have multiple tells. Little things you do that are the difference between you telling the truth and you telling a lie. First off, your left shoulder slouches down a little. Then, you right knee starts shaking a little – not so much that it's highly noticeable but just enough for you to feel it. It's probably a nervous tick you have that offsets when you're doing something that you know is against your conscience. Thirdly, your visible eye gets darker ever so slightly. It's usually onyx, but every time you lie, it turns coal. You most likely think that by hardening your gaze, people will get fooled by your false conviction, and that a darker eye means that less emotion will be shown."

Not being able to think of anything to say as a retort, Kakashi settled for commenting ever so smoothly, "I didn't know you observed me so much."

Rin's eyes narrowed a little in response to his statement and her cheeks tinged pink. "I don't," she defended, "I just have very keen observational skills."

"I have very keen observational skills as well," he informed. "I know your tell as well."

"Oh really? Well that's interesting, considering I don't have a tell."

"You _think _you don't have a tell. It's probably a defence mechanism your subconscious has set up in order to protect you."

"Alright then, oh observant one, what is my tell?"

"Just like mine, yours is very difficult to notice since it is so parallel to your regular demeanour, and just like mine, you have multiple tells. Firstly, your smile becomes more forced and thus, it becomes wider at the edges. You probably force the smile because you think that smiles are the best and easiest way to handle any difficult situation. This forced smile in turn causes your jaw to lock lower than normal and it also causes your pupils to widen and your eyebrows to raise."

Rin stared at him, mouth agape. "You really pay too much attention to me, you know that right?"

"No, I don't. I just have very keen observational skills," he smirked.

"Well, it must be scary for you," Rin paused thoughtfully, "having one of your defence systems figured out, that is. Having someone see beyond the whole poker face."

Kakashi paused before answered, seeming to be as deep in thought as her. "Not really," came his reply. "You do not know whether the 'defence' system you have figured out is a real one or just a poker face behind the poker face."

"Touché." She paused again, standing up and pacing, before turning back to him and surveying him mysteriously. "Still, I don't think I've just cracked a second poker face. I think I'm right with my assumption that it's a defence system."

"If that assumption were to be correct, then that would mean I too would have figured out one of your defence systems."

"Alright, just to test my theory, I'll ask another question: do you actually enjoy reading that smut Jiraiya-sama introduced you to?"

"…No."

"You're lying." Rin looked at him, one eyebrow raised, a challenging expression on her face.

Kakashi stared back just as mockingly contemptuous until finally, his shoulders slouched a little and he cursed under his breath. "Fine. You win. You're too good at this. They ought to just use you as a lie detector down at the police headquarters."

"No, I'm really not any good at this at all. I just know you well."

Yes, sometimes our poker face lets in people we intended to keep out. But sometimes, those we intended to keep out are those we really wanted to let in.

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_**Author's Note:** 'Tis all folks! Yes, it did not have much of a point, but hopefully you still managed to enjoy it. As always, I encourage the reader(s) to leave a detailed review filled with constructive criticism and honest opinions which I can build on. Thank you._


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